Auburn player announces he will leave program

Auburn will be down a player when it begins spring practice on Tuesday.

Tigers tight end Chris Laye, a redshirt sophomore who appeared in 12 games this past season, made his decision to leave the program public on Saturday in a brief message posted via Facebook.

“I have chosen to leave the Auburn football team. I want to thank the people that helped me through the journey and the fans,” Laye wrote.

Laye, a former three-star prospect out of Lambert High School (Suwanee, Ga.), originally signed with the Tigers in 2013. He was rated the No. 49 tight end in the nation and a top-100 recruit in the state of Georgia, according to the 247Sports Composite.

The silver lining for the Tigers is that they have a talented early enrollee in Landon Rice, a former four-star tight end who is the eighth-ranked player at his position nationally. Sophomore Jalen Harris is expected to compete for playing time, as well.